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Cleanup underway after Toronto’s first snowstorm of the season

Six-hundred road plows, and 300 sidewalk plows are cleaning up over 11,000 km of roads and sidewalks across the city

Darryl Spreen (left) and New Zealander, Fremon Wolfe trek through the snow in Ashbridges Bay Park en route to catch a few waves in Lake Ontario after a fresh snowfall in Toronto. (RANDY RISLING / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

About 10 cm. of snow had fallen on Toronto by early Dec. 27 – the biggest snowfall recorded for the area since March 2011, The Weather Network said. (RANDY RISLING / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

The snow began in earnest around 8 p.m. in the city's west end as traffic heads eastbound from the city along the Gardiner Expressway, Wednesday December 26, 2012. (RICK MADONIK / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

By Touria IzriStaff Reporter

Thu., Dec. 27, 2012

Around 900 plows are on Toronto’s roads and streets sweeping up snow left over from the season’s first snowstorm.

The plows are cleaning up more than 11,000 km of roads and sidewalks across Toronto, says Peter Noehammer, the city’s director of transportation services.
PHOTOS: Snow hits Toronto

More than 10 cm of snow was dumped onto the GTA overnight — the GTA’s biggest snowfall since March, 23 2011. According to Environment Canada, downtown Toronto was blanketed by 15 cm of snow, making it one the hardest hit parts of the GTA.

Noehammer says most of the cleanup will be completed by Thursday evening.

This blizzard brought twice as much snowfall as last winter’s biggest storm, says Dave Phillips of Environment Canada.

Despite the overnight snowstorm, weather in the GTA should calm towards the end of the week. Forecast for the rest of Thursday is mainly cloudy with a chance of flurries and a high of -4 C. Friday will be sunny with a mix of clouds and a daytime high of -1 C. The weekend weather will be even milder; Saturday will have periods of snow and a high of -1 C and Sunday will have a mix of sun and clouds with a high of 0 C.

Since the storm began the Canadian Automobile Association has received more than 3,000 service calls.
The Gardiner Expressway and Hwy. 401 were the scene of multiple vehicle collisions overnight.

Despite slippery weather conditions and reduced visibility the collisions were minor and mostly involved single vehicles said OPP.

“There are multiple minor collisions and cars spinning out because of people not slowing down and travelling at excessive speeds for the winter conditions,” said. Const. Linda Wolf.

There have been no reports of serious injuries or damages, she said.

Travel in the sky was affected by the storm. There have been over 130 flight cancellations since the storm began. However, Greater Toronto Airports Authority spokesperson Scott Armstrong says things are slowly getting back to normal. “Maintenance crews have been out since late last night clearing snow,” he said.
Holiday travellers should be weary of hundreds of flight delays coming out of U.S. airports.

Several departures were cancelled early Thursday morning at Pearson International Airport in Toronto and at Montreal’s Trudeau Airport. Phillips says Pearson International Airport can expect around 12 cm of snowfall Thursday.

Over 30 cm of snow has blown onto Brockville and Kingston, according to Environment Canada.
Heavy snow has also spilled onto parts of the U.S. northeast killing 12 people. U.S. officials said most deaths were caused by car accidents.

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